Meg Pryor had been able to rush her best friend Roxanne Bojarski up to her room in the Pryor house where they could have a heart to heart girls talk in private. Of course the fact that Roxanne had been crying uncontrollably for the last ten minutes, and Meg did not want her parent to hear her frantic cries also had a large part in the impromptu dash and stash. The girls had made it up stairs with out incidence until Meg realized that her sister Patty, who had witness the whole 'outburst', was still on the lower level of the house with her parents.
"Roxanne," Meg tried to calm her friend while stuffing her hands full of Kleenex from the box next to her bed. "It's not as bad as you might think."
"That's easy for you to say, Meg," Roxanne sobbed. "You're not the one being sent away to live with your evil grand aunt."
"Come on, Roxanne," Meg gushed. You don't know that your mother's aunt is evil," Meg tried to assure her. "For all you know, she might be a kindly older lady."
"I'm being sent there because I am a discipline problem, Meg," she shot her friend a course look. "And her name is Ester. That's an evil name."
Meg pulled her close to her shoulder. "Well, maybe your Mom will change her mind when she has time to cool down a little. She has threatened you before."
"But she had Sister Mary Margaret transfer my school records up to Boston so I will already be registered for school on Monday."
By this point Meg was at a lost as to what else to tell her. It was true that Mrs. Bojarski had threaten to use harsh methods to get Roxanne in line before, but she had never played the 'grand aunt' card on her daughter before. Most of her angry warning had been just that, warnings, but she had never actually acted on her anger. This was a crisis that Meg had no idea how to handle.
The two girls set up at attention when they heard a gentle knocking at the closed door. It took Meg a second to regain her breath, and she slumped in her seat as she called out, "Go away Patty. We need time to think."
"It's not Patty," Helen Pryor, Meg's mother's voice came from the hall. "Patty told me what happen and I thought I would come up and see if there were anything I could do to help."
Anger came across Meg's face as she thought about her nosey sister butting in where she didn't belong, again. She was able to compose herself enough and rose from the bed to cross the room and open the door for her Mom.
"Hi," Meg said sheepishly as she opened the door to her worried mother. "We were kinda hoping that Patty would have kept her mouth shut for once."
"I'm glad she told me," Helen gave her a half stern eye. "There is no telling how much you might have made things worst if I wasn't here to watch you."
"Oh Mrs. Pryor," Roxanne ran across the room into Helen's arms. "What am I going to do?"
"See," Patty stood outside the door as her mother entered the room. "I knew Mom would be able to help." She took a step forward only to be met with Megs hand in her face. With a slight shove, Meg pushed her back into the hall and slammed the door on her sister.
"That was just rude!" Patty's voice came from the hall as Meg watch her mother sharing a moment with her best friend.
"What am I going to do, Mrs. Pryor?" She cried. "My Mom is dead set on sending me away."
"There, there," Helen patted her on the back. "Your mother is upset right now, Roxanne. This is not the first time you have gotten into trouble, so she's just trying to find a way to get you to stop doing all these things that can get you thrown out of East Catholic."
"But I can't help myself," Roxanne insisted as they sat down on the edge of the bed. "It's like I see those black and white habits the nuns wear, and I just have to do something that will ruffle their perfect little pleats."
"I'm sure you could stop if you really tried," Helen raised an eyebrow. "But we can work on that once we solve the first problem."
Roxanne stopped crying and leaned forward on her knees away from Helen. "I don't know what to do. She's not listening to reason this time."
Helen sat of straight and sighed. "I guess I could always have a talk with her."
"You would do that?" Roxanne beamed back with a big smile.
"Yeah," Meg repeated. "You would do that?"
"Of course," Helen gave them each a look of 'yea of little faith'. "I'm sure your mother would listen to me."
"That would be great!" Roxanne threw her arms around her gain.
"But," Helen held her back.
"But what?" The two girls asked at the same moment.
"I am sure that there will have to be some new ground rules set," Helen explained with a stern face. "I don't know what they are just yet, but once your mother and I have worked them out," she turned strongly to Roxanne. "You will be required to live by those guidelines with no chance of changing them."
"I will, Mrs. Pryor," Roxanne nodded her head with joy.
Helen gave her a cautious smile.
"See," Meg grinned to her. "I told you my Mom would know what to do."
Across town, Ted Pryor had convince his long lost younger brother Richie Pryor into the hotel's bar to have a drink while they talked away from the rainy streets out front where they had met up. Once at the bar, Ted waved the bartender over where he gave his order of a beer.
"What will you have, Richie," Ted asked with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.
"A Pepsi please," Richie smiled at the bartender.
The attendant nodded and walked off to fill the orders.
"You still avoiding the booze, little brother?" Ted asked tossing a peanut in his mouth.
"I was never much for the spirits, Ted," Richie said trying not to make eye contact. "Even when I preformed the services with the sacramental wines, I only took as small a sip as I had to, and that was all the alcohol I could handle."
"Well, suite yourself," Ted shrugged. "I guess you can't go wrong with the drink of the new generation."
Richie gave him a sarcastic smile in return. "So why don't we get to the point, Ted," he started. "Why are you here? You couldn't care less when I actually lived here."
"I came because I meant what I said outside," Ted said spinning his stool to face him. "How much money do you need this time and how long will it keep you out of town."
"You sanctimonious jerk," Richie cussed shaking his head. "Who do you think you are by showing up here and offering me a pay off to leave town? I came here to see Jack and his family and maybe Pete, but you never even crossed my mind."
"Oh come on Richie," Ted snarled. "Wasn't it me you ran to the last time you needed money when you were in town?"
"And I sent you back every penny you let me borrow with interest," Richie shot back as the bartender placed their drinks before them. He waited until the young man was gone, and then he continued. "I needed the money, and I needed it fast, and you were the only person I knew with enough cash on hand that would give me a fresh start elsewhere. I hated having to rely on you, but I had just left the priesthood and had no job, so you were my only chance."
"I did it for Pop, you know," Ted poured his bottle into the tall glass. "When you called asking for the loan, I called him and asked why it was so important for you to leave town in such a hurry."
"Okay, fine," Richie ran his finger around the rim of the glass. "So you know my dirty little secrets. I'm surprise that you didn't twist them around and then go running to Jack with what you knew. It might have been ideal for you to discredit me in his eyes."
"Jack has always been important to you, Richie," he took a sip. "He and I never really saw eye to eye on your place in the Pryor family."
"You never saw eye to eye with Jack on anything, Ted," Richie took a quick gulp of his soda. "You were half the reason Pop treated Jack like a dirt rag compared to you. You were always the promise child. The golden boy who could do no wrong, and Jack could never live up to that as much as he tried."
"I can seem to remember you trying to win over the folks, too," Ted returned. "In fact, up until your little falling out with her over the church, I would have to say you were pretty much Mom's favorite."
"Meanwhile Jack and Pete got shut out," Richie remarked with disgust in his own fortune. "Pete became a hard nosed little punk, but Jack still tried to win the old man over and to this day still idolized him even after he was treated so badly."
"Jack has also been a hard one to figure out," Ted sighed. "You and I have always been the flip sides of the same coin. The strong successful so called evil side to the weak failure believed angel child who ended up being the one who broke his own parents hearts."
"Still cold and heartless Ted," Richie could not help but grin at their reflections in the mirror. "Well I don't care what you think. And I don't want your money."
"Sounds good to me," Ted nodded. "So when are you going back to Lynchburg Virginia?"
Richie eyed his brother carefully. "How do you know where I've been living?"
"Pop told me you had called a few times trying to talk, but he was always smart enough to hang up on you," Ted explained taking another drink. "I also got the phone call from the hospital last year."
This revelation startled Richie even more as he stared into his eyes. "What hospital?"
"The one in Lynchburg where you were rushed after the car crash," Ted said eying him back.
"Why would they have called you?" Richie asked with alarm.
"Think about it, Richie," Ted smiled. "They must have had your records on file, and with Mom and Dad dead, and your own family gone, as the oldest sibling, I was the next of kin. The word was that you were really touch and go there for a while."
Richie's head sank.
"I never told anyone," Ted told him placing a hand on his back. "I didn't see the point of upsetting Jack and Pete with bad news about a brother who didn't even care enough to call from time to time."
"If you were so close with Pop," he snarled. "Then you know why I couldn't call, Ted. Pop told me to stay away, and I did. You even blocked me from coming back for the funerals. I was not even allowed into the funeral home, and I had to watch the burial from outside of the locked gates."
"It was Pop's final wishes," Ted down the last of his bear.
"My God," Richie buried his face in his hands while his elbows leaned on the bar. "Did he really hate me that much?"
"You went against the church, Richie," Ted waved his empty bottle. "Your returning even for the funerals could have been a bad mark on his church."
"I told the truth, Ted," Richie gritted his teeth in anguish. "Why was I the one being punished for telling the truth?"
Ted let out a chuckle. "It's the catholic church for crying out loud. They aren't interested in the truth. Your little revelation was too much for them to handle, and they had to hide it and you. Besides, what they do to others was never our concern"
Swaying his head side to side, Richie took a big lung full of air. "You don't know the half of it. I never wanted to hurt them, Ted. I swear to God I didn't want Mom and Pop to be upset by what I did."
"All water under the bridge," Ted said nonchalantly. "What's important now are you not digging up old dead corpses just to try and rebuild relationships that don't exist any more."
Richie sat silent watching the carbonated bubbles in his drink float to the top.
"Come on Richie," Ted patted him on the back. "You know what I am telling you is all for the best of everyone concerned. Just get out of Dodge before anyone else is hurt by your little tirade."
"I can't do that Ted," Richie sighed with wet eyes. "If you know about the car wreck, then you know why I need to be here now. I need to find something on this Earth to be connected to, or so help me God, I will snap."
"Then find it in Lynchburg," Ted leaned into his ear. "Because what you want, is no longer in Philadelphia."
"Who or what gives you the right to try and dictate my life for me?" Richie looked at him with anger. "We are adults now, Teddy," he let the name hang heavy on his tongue as if it were poison. "We are all responsible for what we do on our own. Mom and Pop are gone, and there's nothing to protect them from any further."
Ted shook his head with a wry smirk as he sipped on his bottle. "You're a stupid fool little brother," he sighed. "Your being here is only going to hurt you more in the long run."
"I have nothing to loose," he turned away again.
"You have your little deluded dreams, to loose, Richie," Ted shook his head again. "In your mind you think that somehow everyone has been pining after you all these years, and some day they will all welcome you back into their homes and their hearts."
Richie didn't say a word. He just took another drink and watched Ted from the corner of his eye.
"Didn't it ever accrue to you that in the whole twelve years that you been gone, that not one person has even thought to look you up or try and find out where you were?" Ted goaded at him. "For crying out loud, Richie, even when Mom and Pop both passed, Jack never even considered picking up a phone and giving you a call to let you know."
He paused and took a drink giving him time to think on it. "I saw you at the cemetery the day Pop died," Ted added. "We all know that I would never bother coming up and talking with you, but don't you think if I saw even when I wasn't looking, then Jack would have seen you too? I know for a fact he was looking. But he still didn't approach you."
Sloughing over the bar, Richie wrapped his hand around his cold drink. "Why are you telling me these things?" He grunted. "Why are you trying to hurt me so bad?"
"Because little brother," Ted put a hand on each shoulder and leaned in. "You may think I'm a cold hearted SOB, but you know what I am telling you and asking you to do, will save you a whole lot of heart ache in the end."
It was taking all the inner strength Richie had to not loose control of his grief as his brother slid off his stool and dropped two-dollar bills on the counter for the drinks. "My offer for the money expires in forty eight hours little man," Ted spoke coldly. "That should give you enough time to mull it over and come to the conclusion that I am right." He leaned in to his ear one final time. "I'm always right, Richie, or didn't Pop ever teach you that?"
By the time Richie regained himself enough to sit up and spin his stool around, all he saw was the tail end of Ted's gray over coat slipping out the door. He sat silently as his eyes drifted to the floor.
Back at the Pryor home, Helen had convinced Roxanne to stop her crying long enough for them all to go down stairs and have supper. Patty had to be sternly warned not to question her on anything while they enjoyed their meal, while Jack, Helen and Pete avoided her questions in regards to the mysterious new uncle in their lives.
After the meal was finished, Roxanne and Meg helped Helen to clear the table and do the dishes while Patty was sent away to do her studies as an attempt to get her away from being able to pry into anymore touchy maters and Will went to his room to read his favorite Curious George book. Jack and Pete sat in front of the television watching a show that neither had any particular interest in, but they felt it was better than having to have a heart to heart about the brother they had hoped was long forgotten.
Pete was the first to break the silence after a long half hour. "So how is the shop doing these days?"
"It's picking up again." Jack commented from his favorite chair. "Now that tax time is over, people are spending money a little more freely again."
"That's good," Pete nodded. "I heard my chief was in the market for a new color set. Maybe I'll send him your way."
"You do that, Pete," Jack leaned further back into his seat. "Maybe I can cut him a deal if he can get me a slide on a few parking tickets."
"I'll work on it," Pete nodded again taking a sip of his beverage. He placed it back on the table coaster and the two got quiet again. After a few minutes of pointless commercials, Pete turned back to his brother again. "So are we going to pretend he's not back in our lives again?"
Jack raised his eyes to heaven. "Oh come on Pete," he sighed. "All I want is a nice quiet night away from the madness that has been my whole day. Is that asking too much?"
"I don't know Jack," Pete shrugged. "I'm trying to follow your lead here, but you haven't given me much to go on. I'm assuming it's only a matter of time before Richie looks me up, and I am wondering how we are going to handle this as a family."
"Handle it however you want," Jack waved his right hand. "I can't tell you not to see your own brother if you want to, and I won't force him on you either."
"But I want to know where you stand, Jack," Pete leaned forward and turned down the volume on the set. "You know I have always stood with you where both Richie and Ted are concern."
"Ted has nothing to do with anything that happen today," Jack reminded him. "You built up your own little dislike for him all on your own. And we all agreed that Richie was a mute topic after he left. So don't make me the leader of your own little Pryor hater's club."
Pete put his folded hands to his mouth for a minute and rested his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward in thought. Then after an uncomfortable silence, he moved his hands. "Richie is my brother too," he spoke softly. "But you are the one who was always there for me, and I don't want to effect what we have in any way."
"You won't Pete," Jack insisted. "If you want to go see Richie, then I won't stop you or make you feel bad for doing it, but don't think that I will be running over to his hotel room for some family reunion any time soon. I can't forget what he did to Mom and Pop so easily."
"That's what I don't understand in all of this, Jack," Pete said with a heavy sigh. "What was it that he did that was so bad? So he became a priest and found out he wasn't cut out for the job so he quit. It had nothing to do with Mom or Pop. So there dream for him was gone, he was still there. Why did they turn their backs on him?"
Jack eyes became large as he glared over at his brother. "You know what he did, Pete. He hurt allot of people by starting that scandal."
"Hurt?" Pete repeated. "My line of thought would be that he saved allot more people than he hurt. He hurt people's egos of what they thought was going on and what the church should be, but in turn, he saved allot of innocent little children."
"He almost brought Saint Catherine's down around the communities ears, Pete," Jack's voice was now in the range of a shouting match. "He wrecked havoc in our church, and then he ran."
"And dozens, maybe hundreds of little boys were safe because of his courage," Pete said trying to remain calm.
With the adrenalin flowing through him, Jack had to stand up and pace for a while. He stood before Pete as he thought out loud. "Nothing was happening there. Nothing ever happen that Richie had to save anyone from."
"Yes there was," Pete lowered is head. "There was something there that caused the two of you to insist that I not become an alter boy even after I begged Pop to let me try it out. It was enough that neither of you would quit to open a new spot even after you had both told me you detested the job."
Jack's eyes were ablaze again as he looked down at him. "Stop it Pete," he growled in a low huff. "There was nothing there."
"Yes there was," Pete stood up defiantly staring his brother down. "His name was father O'Malley, and he was there for nearly twenty years until he was sent away to Canada for some undisclosed reason, and he returned to Saint Catharine's about six months before Richie decided he could no longer be a priest and began his slow decent out of the church."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Jack insisted.
"I was a teenager the second time he was sent away after Richie turned him in to the Arch Diocese of Philadelphia, again," Pete reminded him. "I was old enough to hear the rumors and to know what they were talking about."
Jack turned away.
"We have a name for guys like O'Malley down at the station, Jack," Pete spoke over his shoulder. "We call them Pedophiles. Child Molesters."
"Father O'Malley never molested anyone, Pete," Jack turned with a scream. "That was some sick rumor perpetuated by own selfish brother who was looking for an easy out to the priesthood."
"My God, Jack," Pete gave a brief chuckle of disgust. "You of all people are the last person who could say that. You know what that sick…" he stopped himself short of the word. "You know what that animal did to Richie when you were both alter boys."
"Stop it right there," Jack pointed his finger in Pete's face.
"No Jack," Pete shook his head. "It's about time someone said it out loud. If you won't, then I will."
"Don't!" Jack screamed.
"Jack!" Pete got close up to his face. "O'Malley did it to you too!"
Raising a fist, Jack grabbed his brother's collar and held his waving hand over his face. "He.." Jack stuttered. Then, with out warning, he released Pete and swung around raising his right foot kicking the folding TV table that held their drinks up into the air smashing it against the wall four feet away.
"He never touched me!" Jack turned back.
Helen heard all the commotion from the kitchen and sent the girls up to Meg's room in the opposite direction from the living room. She then rushed in to see the two men standing in some type of standoff.
"Jack?" She questioned as she saw the mess they had made.
"Get out of my house, Pete," Jack said with a snarl. "I can't stand the sight of you right now."
"You can get rid of me like Pop did to Richie," Pete said back in a much calmer voice. "But it will never change what O'Malley did to you and too Richie. He was sick and he used you like so many other little boys who only wanted to be alter boys."
"My goodness, Pete," Helen spoke up standing next to her husband. "What kind of stories are you trying to tell?"
"The same truths that got Richie thrown out of town by our old man," Pete answered her question. "The same truths that Jack has been hiding all these years, Helen. O'Malley preyed on little boys for his own sexual needs."
"Pete," Helen cautioned him. "We have all herd those rumors, but nothing had ever been proven before O'Malley retired and the whole matter was dropped."
"Hey," JJ entered from the kitchen removing his coat. "What's going on?"
"This has nothing to do with you JJ," Jack said. "Why don't you go upstairs and help Will get ready for bed."
Pete continued as JJ walked towards the hall to the steps. "It was Richie's revelations about father O'Malley that got him in so much trouble with Pop. That was the dirty mark he had made on the church that Pop could not forgive him for."
"You don't know anything, Pete," Jack waved his hand in disgust at him.
JJ stopped at the door and listened in.
"You asked me earlier tonight about what I heard the night Richie decided to leave town when he talked to Mom and Pop," Pete reminded him. "Well I heard everything, Jack. I heard what O'Malley had done to the two of you, and what he was still doing to the other boys who were in the church when Richie was a priest."
"Pop never said anything about it," Jack said harshly.
"Pop was in denial about his church and the great Father O'Malley that's why Richie had to tell, but he took that priest's word over his own son's and never even bothered to check the facts with you," Pete told him pointing his own finger now. "Richie was heart sick and had to come out and tell the truth and he never wanted to reveal about you and him, but Pop insisted on knowing how he could be so sure about what O'Malley was doing with those boys, and he finally spoke up, but they tried to shut him up instead. Richie said he even tried to ignore it at first, but there was one other victim laying in wait that Richie could not let father O'Malley get to."
"Who?" Helen found herself so taken by the story, that she asked before she had even thought about thinking twice.
Pete did not say a word, but turned his head slowly towards the far corner of the room at the entrance that lead to the stairwell where JJ was standing silently listening with great interest. It took a moment for it to sink in, but then Helen was the first to react.
"Oh my Lord," she gasped covering her mouth with her hands. A tear rolled down her cheek as she spoke the name. "JJ?"
Pete nodded once ending with his eyes closed and his face towards the floor.
"You do not mean that," Jack grabbed his brother by the shirt collar again. "That is a bold face lie."
Helen rushed across the room looking into her son's eyes taking him by the arms.
"I'm sorry Jack," Pete gushed as his eyes began to well up. "I didn't have the heart to tell you before, but I figured if you are going to spend the rest of your life hating the guy, then you should at least know the whole story as to why Richie sacrificed himself for JJ."
Jack pounded a soft fist into his brother's chest. "Tell me that you are making this all up, Pete," he insisted softly with a groan.
"I can't Jack," Pete looked away. "O'Malley knew that JJ had his heart set on becoming an alter boy when he was old enough, and O'Malley was trying to push it through early, because he wanted another Pryor son on the team."
His hands started shaking as he still held tightly to Pete. "I would never have let that happen," Jack snarled. "I would have never let O'Malley get his hands on my son."
"And Richie felt that he had to make sure he wouldn't either," Pete explained. "He told Pop that he didn't want you to have to relive those nightmares like he had when he first saw O'Malley again, so he stopped it the only way he could."
"By giving up his carrier to save my son and risk loosing his family in the same turn," Jack finished the thought. "He couldn't speak against the church and remain a priest."
"The truth cost him everything," Pete added. "Because Pop believed O'Malley and chose the church over his own sons."
The realization that his father had not only denied his brother's abusive past but his as well hit Jack hard as he looked up into Pete's face. The man he had idolized his entire life had known of his greatest shame and hurt, but had never acknowledge it to him or anyone.
"I don't understand," JJ spoke up. "What is this all about? What did that Father O'Malley want with me?"
"JJ," Helen put her hands on his cheeks. "It doesn't matter now. Richie made sure it didn't happen."
Jack and Pete watched from across the room as she wrapped her arms around her son. After a few seconds, a look came across his face as if a light bulb had come on; he had finally pieced the puzzle together.
"Oh my God," he fell forward even further into his mothers arms as the fear began to flow through him with out warning. "Oh my God," was the only response he could utter as Jack rushed across the room to hold him up along with his mother. The fear of what could have been hit JJ hard and he began shaking uncontrollably.
"It's okay, Jackie," Jack spoke softly to his son as they held tightly to each other. "No one will ever hurt you like that," he forced the tears back. "This time I can promise it."
The hotel room was not warm or inviting like the Pryor home, but Richie Pryor knew that this was where he would have to stay. The facts may have been bleak, but in truth was he had no where to be or anyone to rush off to anymore, so waiting would be okay for now. Meanwhile his mind raced over the day's events as he began to unbuckle his brace from around his waist. The whole apparatus was bulky and uncomfortable, but the doctors in both Lynchburg and Charlottesville had both warned him that these mettle devices would be a part of his life for the foreseeable future. For all intended purposes, they were keeping hold of his body as he attempted to regain a hold on normal life again. So with great effort and care, he removed them and after several minutes, he settled pack against propped pillows and tried to get comfortable.
The idea of comfort had become a state of mind rather than of body in the time since his accident, but Richie had learn to make the best of the constant nagging pain, and had even learn to live with the discomfort and function without the hands full of pain pills each day. He even learned to find enough ease to fall into a restless sleep most nights. What the pain did not do for his missed sleep, the memories and bad dreams of the accident that brought them about only made up the difference.
Tonight, as he took slow breaths waiting for the sharp stabbing pains to dissipate from all the movement he caused releasing the restraints, he knew that this would be another of the sleepless nights, only the memories that would haunt him would go further back in time than any he had shared in the last year. He knew the haunting face of reverend O'Malley would again rear it's ugly head in his minds eye should he be able to drift into a slumber. His nightmare would be accompanied by the longing to be loved again by those he had once loved more than he ever thought possible.
Settling in for a long night, Richie reached over for the only entertainment this low rent hotel room would afford, and listen to the soft gentle sounds of Andy Williams as he allowed his mind to drift to the painful past and hoping to get the nightmares over quickly.
Across town, Jack got up from his chair in the living room where he had sat for the last few hours in complete silence nursing a drink. He made his way slowly into the kitchen where Helen had busied herself with the cleaning choirs, which were her excuse since she did not want to be too far should he need her.
"Jack?" She turned from the sink where she wiping down the water from her cleaning tasks. "Can I get you something?"
He walked with his hands in his pockets. His shirt was unbuttoned the first three slots down and un-tucked revealing his tee shirt. "No," he said softly. "I just wanted to let you know that you can stop worrying about me. I'm going up to bed."
She put her hands on both of his arms. "Things will be better in the morning," she kissed his cheek.
"No they won't," he gave her a half smile. "But thank you for thinking so." He kissed her warmly on the lips.
"I'll be up in few minutes," she told him as he walked pass. "I just want to finish up."
"Don't be to long," he called back as he continued his trek.
Meanwhile, JJ had just finished his shower and had thrown on a clean pair of pajama bottoms, tee shirt and white gym socks and made his way back to his room with a towel wrapped around his shoulders wiping his short hair as he navigated around the dark room. Just as he rested his right knee on his own bed, he heard a rustling from Will's slumbered a few feet away. His younger brother was having a bad dream as his arms and legs began flailing around and he kept mumbling the word, "No."
Quickly, JJ sat on the side of Will's bed and shook his gently awake. "Hey Thrill," he called softly. "It's okay, it's just a dream."
"JJ," Will bolted up as best he could wrapping his tiny arms around JJ's neck.
"It's okay, Thrill," JJ, returned the hug. "It's only a dream. You're awake now."
"Thank you, JJ," Will cried softly. "I was scared. He was after me."
"Who?" JJ asked with concern.
"I don't know," Will said slightly muffled into JJ's shirt. "A big bad man was chasing down the hall at school, and no matter how fast I tried to run, he kept getting closer and I couldn't get away."
"It's okay now," JJ held him tighter patting his head. "No one is going to hurt you."
"You won't let them, will you, JJ?" He shook his head.
"That's right buddy," JJ agreed pulling away with a smile. "I'll always be there for you."
"Thank you, JJ," Will wipe his tears on his pajama sleeves.
JJ sat back a little and studied his brother. "So what brought this on?" He asked giving his reaction a once over. "Did you hear Dad and Uncle Pete yelling earlier?"
"Not all of it," Will shrugged. "I didn't mean to hear it, but I heard them talking about this mean man who hurt Daddy."
"That was a long time ago," JJ said quickly. "That man is gone and can't hurt anyone anymore."
Will looked deep into his eyes. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," JJ nodded. "There's nothing to worry about anymore."
"I believe it if you say so," Will nodded quickly.
"Good," JJ leaned over him gently lowering him back to the pillows. "Now try and get some sleep."
"I will," Will smiled nuzzling back into his blankets.
"Good night," JJ kissed his forehead. "Don't worry, because I'm right over here if you need me."
As he got up and took a few steps, he heard Will call out to him. "JJ?"
He looked back over his shoulder tossing his towel onto a pile of dirty laundry in the corner. "What is, buddy?"
"Will you sleep with me tonight?" Will asked sheepishly.
JJ sighed. "Aren't you a little old for that, Will?"
"Please JJ," Will's soft voice pleaded.
Standing silent for a moment, JJ thought about his options, and decided that perhaps he didn't want to sleep in his own bed alone that night either, so he slowly turned around and made his way over to the opposite side of the bed and laid down on top of the covers next to his baby brother.
Will turned his head and gave him a soft smile. He then leaned back staring up at the ceiling as JJ laid on his side watching him. After a few minutes, JJ moved closer and slipped his right arm under Will's head and pulled in closer as he rested his hand on his tiny chest. He rested his head on the pillow next to his ear. "Close your eyes," JJ whispered. "No one is going to harm you, not while I'm around."
Closing his eyes, Will set out for a peaceful night of slumber.
In the bottom hall, Helen made sure the door was locked and began her walk up the stairs.
Back at the Belmont, Richie reached for the knob on the bedside radio and turned up the volume to his latest favorite song as the music filled the air.
*** NOT While I'm Around ***
(Written by Stephen Sondheim as performed by Michael Ball ^.)
Helen made her way up the stares and clicked out the hall lights as she walked.
*** Nothing's going to harm you ***
She peaked into the first room and saw her sons sleeping in the same bed.
*** Not while I'm Around ***
A smile crossed her face as she watched them nuzzle together.
*** Nothing's gonna harm you ***
Will held tightly to his brother's arm draped across his chest as he slumbered.
*** No sir, not while I'm around ***
Slowly he began to shift his body as he slept in reaction to a bad dream.
*** Demons are prowling everywhere ***
JJ instinctively pulled him in closer placing his lips inches from his ear.
*** Nowadays ***
"Shuussshh," JJ spoke softly as he too slept.
*** I'll send 'em howling ***
Will stopped moving as if comforted by the sound of JJ's voice and released a sigh.
*** I don't care ***
Helen smile sweetly as she pulled back leaving the door open just a crack.
*** I got ways ***
A grin crossed Will's face as drifted into a pleasant sleep.
*** No one's gonna hurt you ***
Across the hall in Patty's room, Helen saw a night-light lit by her bed.
*** No one's gonna dare ***
Her daughter held tightly to a teddy bear long since exiled to a corner of the room.
*** Others can desert you ***
The old tiny and dusty toy found a need for comforting once again.
*** Not to worry, whistle, I'll be there ***
Helen leaned over and kissed her forehead softly adjusting the blankets.
*** Demons'll charm you with a smile ***
In Meg's room, she saw Roxanne in a sleeping bag on the floor near the bed.
*** For a while ***
Her hand was held back over her shoulder as Meg's hand hung off the bed holding it tightly.
*** But in time ***
Helen pulled up the blankets on both young ladies with a pleasing smile.
*** Nothing can harm you ***
She brushed the hair from Roxanne's face and could still see the streaks left by tears.
*** Not while I'm around ***
She left the room silently.
*** Being close and being cleaver ain't like being true ***
In her own room she found Jack sitting on the edge of the bed staring out the window at the black night sky.
*** I don't need to ***
He kept gaze looking away as she placed her hand on his shoulder.
*** I would never hide a thing from you ***
His mind seemed to be drifting as she watched attentively.
*** Like some ***
He grabbed her hand with his own right hand tightly.
*** (Musical interlude builds up.) ***
He spoke softly as the grief broke on his face. "O'Malley told me he wouldn't touch Richie if I did what he wanted me to."
His head sank low. "He lied."
*** Demons are prowling everywhere ***
Helen quickly leaned in wrapping her arms around him comfortingly.
*** Nowadays ***
He reached back and held tightly to her as his breathing became labored.
*** I'll send 'em howling ***
He turned his head sharply and leaned into her shoulder.
*** I don't care ***
Helen held Jack as he cried for the first time in a very long time.
*** I have ways ***
She could not help herself and cried with him.
*** No one's gonna hurt you ***
Outside a car with darken headlights road slowly pass the Pryor house.
*** No one's gonna dare ***
Ted Pryor looked up from the driver's seat at the lit room window on the second floor.
*** Others can desert you ***
Another car drove from the opposite direction as Ted got a view of Pete's eyes looking back at him.
*** Not to worry whistle, I'll be there ***
The two cars slowly continued their journeys in opposite direction.
*** Demons'll charm you with a smile ***
The light in the upper window went dimmed just as they parted.
*** For a while ***
Across town, the radio light lit the darken room near his bed.
*** But in time ***
Richie held up the small Saint Dominic Savio medallion to the soft light.
*** Nothing can harm you ***
His hand wrapped completely around it as he pulled it to his chest.
***Not while I'm around ***
The tears from his eyes sparkled as the song faded.
To Be Continued
Author's note: ^ Okay, the song 'Not While I'm Around' was actually written in 1979 by Stephen Sondheim for his 'Sweeny Todd' musical and was sung by Angela Lansberry in the original Broadway production. After much research on music of the time around this story, I could not find anything that fit the need and this story as well as this song did, so I decided to go ahead and use it anyway. The version I used, of many possible versions is by Michael Ball on his 2001 CD 'Centre Stage' by Hip-O Records. With much thanks to the staff at my local Barnes & Nobles, I found that his style of music would fit very well into this time frame, and went ahead and used it. So forgive me for not keeping everything in its perfect time frame. I have tried very hard with manners of speech and expressions, so placing a song that does not belong was not something I took lightly, but I think it works perfectly and I hope you will agree with its importance to the story.
To: Kristin: Thank you for the review. I'm sorry that you thought the first chapter was a little long, but I felt it was important to set the story up from all the character's points of views while not rushing the story. I think it is important for the story to dictate the needs and size of each chapter, and not the desires of author's need to make everything a quick fix.
To Banana Belle: Thank you for your good review. I hope each chapter will live up to your desire.
To Sarah: Thank you for the review. I think there will be a little more Meg as we move on here, but I always have an easier time writing anguish teen boys as appose to bubbly teen girls. I hope you can still enjoy the story I have tried to focus on the family more than any one character, although JJ does seem to get allot more coverage than the others.
Thank you all for reading and commenting.
Phaze